Network

The New Ethics of Food

There is growing public recognition that the issues involved with the global food system – from production to consumption to distribution to waste – pose complex ethical, social, and political challenges that require critical consideration. Climate change, expanded global interdependence and shifts in the urban/rural interface for food systems create vexing ethical questions of justice. The Midwest faces particular challenges. Once a leader in both industrial and food sectors, the Midwest has experienced dramatic downturns in key industries, which have exacerbated problems related to food insecurity. In both the urban and the rural Midwest, vulnerable and underserved populations have endured the most deleterious impacts. The Midwest is also plagued with high levels of water pollution, mostly due to contaminants from agricultural nonpoint-source run-off.

As the breadbasket of America, the Midwest has rich agricultural narrative traditions. These involve distinctive discourses, discursive practices, and ethical perspectives around food and agriculture, so that “food ethics” takes on a regional character. Moreover, the narratives and ethical debates surrounding agriculture and food in the Midwest are shifting in face of pressing global economic, social, and ecological issues. Midwestern cities such as Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago, for example, have been leaders in innovating the food system, from urban gardens to a rapid expansion of food hubs, and there are stories to be told about these efforts and the region’s particular food culture and ethic. The Midwest’s land grant universities and their legacy of involvement with agriculture and food-related issues have a built-in capacity to foster the development of such narratives. Humanities disciplines in particular – with their emphasis on multi-perspective thinking, deep and expansive ethical framing, and commitment to the narratives, stories, and imagination of specific communities – can help guide and facilitate a public humanities process and bring stakeholders together.

To address these issues, the New Ethics of Food project has two big objectives. The first is to link Michigan State and other consortial and community-based partners in a common commitment to research and dialogue around a broadened understanding of the new ethics of food. The second is to reposition the Midwest as a major force in this century’s global, regional, and local food economy and culture, and to demonstrate how the public humanities, broadly construed, can contribute to this work.

Join

Join the network by creating a profile and reaching out to fellow scholars and practitioners who have already joined. By joining the network, you can share stories about your and your organization’s work, find collaborators, report news, and promote events. As individuals create personal profiles, we can learn about how our community is exploring questions in food ethics, and which questions are receiving more and less attention. Check out the network visualizations to learn more.

Share

The New Ethics of Food project is dedicated to creating space for scholars and practitioners to share stories of success and struggle. These narratives are vital to learning from one another’s experience and advancing food ethics work that does justice to the diverse projects happening on the ground. If you have a story to share, please email us at newethicsoffood@gmail.com and we can feature your story here.

Find Collaborators

As we add members to the network, we will develop a tree diagram so that you can locate potential collaborators based on the fields that you filled out when setting up your profile. Check back soon for an early version of the diagram. Or click on link below to find collaborators.

Find Research Gaps

As we add members to the network, we will develop several chord diagrams so that you can explore what research areas and research questions are receiving the most attention by members of the network. This will also help identity research areas and questions that deserve more attention than they currently receive.